What Is Employee Engagement? And Why It Matters to Business

When most of us think of employee engagement, we envision a sea of people diligently working at their desks. But looks, as they say, can be deceiving — what with just 30 percent of workers being engaged in the workplace.

Just because someone is a good employee, it doesn’t make him or her an engaged one. Engaged workers are those people who actually buy into your goals and objectives. They’re committed to not just their job but your company, and will do almost anything to help you achieve success.

But that’s not all. Engaged workers also provide a number of other benefits, and those often include the following:

Improved productivity. Companies often assume that if they pay employees enough, they’ll be more productive. But I’m here to tell you there’s more to it than that. Recent research suggests it isn’t money that drives productivity but happiness. In fact, happiness can boost productivity by as much as 12 percent. And engaged employees tend to fall into that camp.

Lower turnover. There’s no denying that the grass will always be greener at another employer, as most of us have inflated expectations of the unknown. But engaged workers are 87 percent less likely to leave a company when compared to disengaged staff. If you want to minimize turnover, which will cost you an average of $15,000 per person, take another look at your engagement strategies.

Fewer absences. People get sick — that’s just a fact of life. And yes, there will always be those staffers who suffer from mysterious “ailments” only between the hours of nine and five, but not engaged employees. They only take an average 3.9 sick days per year, while disengaged workers rack up nearly 11 missed days.

Better reputation. One of the inevitable realities is that people talk — and technology has made it that much easier for people to talk to more than just their network. They can quite literally talk to everyone. What your employees say about your company will have a direct impact on your reputation. If they’re engaged and like where they’re working, it only stands to reason that they’ll only have good things to say.

Greater customer satisfaction. It goes without saying that engaged employees are much more satisfied with their jobs. But did you know the correlation between engagement and satisfaction branches out into other business areas? Namely when it comes to customer service. Companies that excel in this area have nearly twice as many engaged workers.

More money. It’s not like you got into business for the fun of it. You want to make money, and those businesses with more engaged workers tend to see more profits. According to a study by Towers Perrin, companies with engaged staffers saw a 19-percent increase in operating income within just one year, while those with disengaged workers experienced a 33 percent decrease. If you want a profitable business, engage your workers.

Many companies put profits over people, failing to realize that the two are actually intertwined. If you take care of your employees, they’ll take care of you — and your bottom line. What company doesn’t want that?

If you’d like to learn more about employee engagement, or discuss what you can do to start building a more engaged workforce, please feel free to contact us today. We offer fully customized talent acquisition and retention solutions. Also look for specific employee engagement ideas on this blog in the coming weeks!

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